Policies explained: What does the Palmer United Party stand for?

Mining magnate and former LNP lifetime member Clive Palmer formed his own political party in April 2013 to contest the federal election.

The outspoken billionaire walked away from the LNP and founded the Palmer United Party (PUP), campaigning on the need for political parties to cut ties with lobbyists and focus groups and the need for electoral reform.

The party's name was originally registered as the United Australia Party, but it was changed because the Australian Electoral Commission found it conflicted with another registered party.

After an unexpected turnout for PUP at the federal election it will now hold the balance of power in the new Senate, which starts in July 2014.

Three PUP members were elected to the Senate, they are: Glenn Lazarus (Queensland), Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania) and Dio Wang (Western Australia).

In October, Motoring Enthusiast senator-elect Ricky Muir announced he would support PUP policies and form a voting bloc with the party.

Mr Palmer himself won the first count for the Queensland seat of Fairfax, which was later confirmed by a recount.

With PUP now a force in the Parliament, take a look at some of the party's policies according to the policy documents and party announcements:

The Indonesian government has since slashed its quota of Australian cattle imports in a bid to become more self reliant.

Mr Palmer says Labor's policies have disrupted large sectors of the rural economy.

"They've abandoned the country because they are more concerned with their own internal politics and factions," Mr Palmer says in a statement.

"This issue has been around for so long but nothing has been fixed - it's a disgrace."

PUP's statement on agriculture does not mention any incentives besides repairing "damage" to the cattle industry and creating a focus on rural Australia, because it has been "forgotten" by people like Nationals leader Warren Truss and Nationals MP Bruce Scott.

Asylum seekers

The Palmer United Party says there is no difference between the LNP and Labor on asylum seeker issues and argues there should be a new approach.

PUP supports allowing asylum seekers to buy a plane ticket to Australia and then for their claims to be processed quickly on arrival.

Asylum seekers would be held in facilities at major Australian airports.

It would be up to an asylum seeker to make their case that they are a genuine refugee.

If the applicant's claims are rejected then they will be flown home, but if they are accepted PUP believe they should then be given access to welfare and allowed to work.

"If they have a genuine claim, asylum seekers should have access to all aspects of our society and not be treated or made to feel like second class citizens," Mr Palmer says in a statement.

PUP does not support offshore processing of asylum seeker claims and says billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted on the issue.

Budget/Business/Tax

The Palmer United Party supports axing the carbon tax and mining tax.

The party has opposed cuts to return the federal budget to the black. Instead, PUP prefers economic "stimulation" achieved by reducing taxes.

It believes that with less taxes, businesses will invest in the Australian economy and more money will be "circulating".

"The more times it circulates the more times GST is paid and when you reduce taxes it also lets individuals make decisions on where money is spent for their own needs and requirements instead of the Government trying to do it for them," Mr Palmer says.

It wants a reduction in personal income tax by 15 per cent for all Australians from July 1, 2014.

It also argues companies should be allowed to pay tax annually instead of quarterly.

Mr Palmer says if companies could pay their taxes annually based on their actual results, rather than quarterly based on an estimate, it would improve confidence and boost economic activity.

He says this measure could inject $70 billion in to the economy as businesses would know exactly how much taxes they are paying and would have the confidence to hire and invest more.

PUP also says there is a need for a bipartisan review of government revenue streams and the Government should reduce its focus on taxation as a source of revenue.

The party has also proposed giving pensioners an extra $150 a fortnight and injecting $80 billion into the federal health budget.

It wants to remove Labor's increases to the Medicare levy and provide a maternity leave allowance based on yearly average wages of $50,000.

The party also supports funding DisabilityCare and education reform, but says the two policies should have been implemented years ago.

Education

The Palmer United Party wants tertiary education to be free for all Australians.

Mr Palmer says abolishing tertiary fees and HECS would "show the world that Australia really is the smart country".

The party supports education reform but opposes the Gillard government's $2.8 billion worth of cuts to the university sector.

PUP says education is one of Australia's major exports and the cuts could threaten the sector.

In school education, the party wants all schools, regardless of if they are government, non-government or independent, to be funded in a "non-discriminatory" manner.

Mr Palmer has opposed the Gillard government's version of the Gonski school reforms, labelling them "ill-conceived and unfair".

"The Palmer United Party aims to grow the cake bigger so everybody can have a better share rather than help certain sectors of the community at the expense of others," Mr Palmer says.

PUP wants to legislate to set a maximum of 30 students to a classroom.

The party also supports a nationalised school curriculum.

It also wants to make private school fees tax deductable.

Electoral reform

Mr Palmer has flagged the need for electoral reform, saying the voting process is open to tampering.

He has voiced concern that voters do not need to show identification when voting and currently fill out ballot papers with a pencil, which can be rubbed out.

Mr Palmer also does not think military and ex-military personnel should be involved in the processing of counting votes, likening it to the role of the military in Egypt.

The party supports a full review of Australia's voting system, including security and handling of ballot boxes.

PUP also says ballots in eastern states should not begin being counted before voting closes in Western Australia.

Mr Palmer says early results in eastern states affects voting trends in WA.

PUP also wants parties to have the ability to review votes that have been marked as informal.

Employment

PUP wants a 50 per cent reduction in income tax on second jobs.

Mr Palmer says the move would provide incentives for Australian to work harder and better themselves.

The party also wants to spread resource sector jobs around Australia by processing mineral resources from Queensland and Western Australia downstream.

It says this would open up jobs in regional areas of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

To tackle the jobless rate in Tasmania, PUP supports funding an international port in the state and reducing shipping costs to the mainland.

Environment

The Palmer United Party does not support a price on carbon but does support the Kyoto Protocol.

As part of its environment policy, the party says it will pursue a target of 10 per cent of all vehicles to be running ethanol-based fuel by the end of 2016. The target would rise to 25 per cent by 2020.

Mr Palmer says the policy will "revitalise" the sugar cane industry and help Australia meet its Kyoto Protocol obligations.

Health

PUP supports the DisabilityCare scheme, but not the increase to the Medicare levy designed to help fund it.

The party's major health policy plank is an injection of an extra $80 billion into health funding, which it wants to pass directly on to hospitals, bypassing the the states.

The funding would be broken down between states and territories.

NSW - $18 billion

Vic - $18 billion

Qld - $10 billion

SA - $8 billion

WA - $9 billion

ACT - $1 billion

NT - Not specified

An extra $4 billion will be provided for mental health services and $5 billion for Aboriginal health as part of the funding package.

Parental leave scheme

The Palmer United Party wants a parental leave scheme that provides $50,000 to the primary care giver and 12 months leave.

This contrasts with Labor's implemented scheme of 18 weeks at the minimum wage, worth $11,200, and the Coalition's scheme of 26 weeks paid leave at a woman's real wage, up to a maximum of $75,000.

Mr Palmer says the Coalition's scheme discriminates by giving more to the wealthy.

"Australian families need a parental leave system which does not discriminate. For Australia to grow strongly, we need strong support and a just system for all families," he says.

The party says it intends to fund the scheme from budget savings, rather than additional taxes.

The scheme would start from July 1, 2014 if the party got its way.

Same-sex marriage/euthanasia/abortion

PUP says it supports a conscience vote for all of its candidates, MPs and senators on social issues like same-sex marriage, euthanasia and abortion.

"There will be no party pressure on any of our candidates and we will respect their thoughts, views and ideas on all social issues including same-sex marriage," Mr Palmer says.